Pleasure boating morons

[Randy]

Here's my story and yes, I'm sticking to it. But your Honor, I can't help the fact that they came close enough to my boat that the rattle trap crossed their ski rope. I am a good caster , but come on . The person holding on to the rope will turn loose as they see this 3/4 oz. trap running up the rope at their hands.
I keep 1 locked and loaded when the skiers start getting close. I missed one by only 10 ft or so. When they came back by , the guy dropped his trunks and mooned me. Hey what the hell , gotta admit I did laugh for a while. I still see them on the lake , they stay just far enough away I can't quite get to them.
Now we both wave at each other, guess they got the message but it still makes you wonder why they come that close to your boat while fishing when the lake is 7 miles wide.

[fishin spro]

it is not just pleasure boaters...people fishing will do it in a heart beat also.

i have had plenty of bass boats come screaming by way too close during tournaments. im sure each and every one of you have done it at some time or another.

and whoever said it is better to fly by someone on plane, than too bog it down time you get next to them. THANK YOU!!!! it is hard to get mad at someone who thinks they are doing the right thing, but it is still really aggravating.

[nofearengineer]

Here is a finer point to this whole "fishermen vs. boaters" conflict. This happened to me this weekend. You have pontoon boaters who anchor their boat 40 feet off of a shoreline, and then proceed to swim around, dive off of it, etc. Then when I try to troll down the shoreline, I invariably get stares from them, as if my lure, which is in a straight line behind the boat, is going to magically zoom out on some phantom planer board and critically injure their water-wing clad offspring. I must come all of 30 feet from them.

What they don't get is...they could just as easily anchor 100 feet off the shore and give us fishermen a break. Do they think I'm going to make some big sweeping turn out into deeper water to avoid them?

Frankly, I think the only reason I haven't been yelled at is they see the big, angry, sunburned man in the bass boat, who may or may not be a serial killer. (I'm actually a nice guy, but for some reason, a lot of people are intimidated by me...I wouldn't hurt a fly )

[flfireman]

That's why I love the Stick Marsh/Farm 13. You don't ski, you don't pleasure boat. You fall, you may become lunch. You haul butt, your engine may become a new water hazard as it gets ripped off your transom.

[wargoth]

Ohio mandates that you must have a license to pilot a boat period. While it doesn't cure all the problems, it has significantly reduced stupidity from never being taught the rules of the water. The problem isn't boaters passing by at speed, the problem is morons passing by 20' at speed. My family waterskies, and I grew up at the helm of a 20' SeaRay and I can assure you I always give fishermen a VERY wide berth as we pass. It isn't the boats that are the problem, it is the fact that boaters aren't being taught properly.

[RandyHolt]

Originally Posted by 66KingFisher

....

But on that subject, I would like to know what opinions are concerning the running speed as you pass near an angler fishing from a boat......I used to fish alot of rivers.....and when some guy would come screamin up the river and blew by you at warp speed he actually puts off very little wake.....so the anglers boat isn't tossed around much when his waves roll by.....Now, on the other end of the spectrum you've got a guy screamin up river and just as he gets near your fishing area he shuts it down real quick and eases on by before reingaging warp drive.....Now, by shutting down suddenly his boat creates a much bigger set of waves that will rock the anglers boat severely......You know what i'm sayin?

So my question becomes.....which way is showing the most respect for the angler?....Plus, as the angler which way would you prefer to have folks pass you under simular circumstances?

...

This is a great question. I dont have a boat but a buddy just got one. If we are flying up the potomac, a fairly narrow river in places, to get to spot, and we come up on boat fishing somewhere say in the middle of the river... we should maintain our speed and get the pass over with asap, and keep the wake down? or slow to a crawl, be a bit quieter, but take longer to get out of his area, and make a bigger wake.

Maybe a poll is in order. It seems keeping your distance maxmized without bottoming out are goals. Easing off the gas shows respect, but for better or for worse? I think maintaining speed to minimize the wake on the fisherman, and time in his zone, seem like smart things to do.

Certainly driving up to the guy to ask which he prefers would be worse thing to do. See the difficulty in this?

Maybe a "DUDE. Maintain your speed and distance" sign would help.

[Lundman76]

I don't understand why the pleasure boaters must do that to us fisherman. I try to go early in the morning to avoid this kind of crap.

[zooker]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

I know a ton of people who have drivers licenses and still drive like idiots. I don't think it would help that much with the boating.

BB

he is right...ya know...

not that i have had much time avoiding them this summer.

zooker

[jasonfish320]

a lot of bass fishermen can be dinks too...I recently returned from a tourney where I had to yell at two other fishermen for being plain @hole...a family in a small ski boat was obviously trying to get into the launch so they could tie up while someone went for the truck, but these two guys flew right by them within a few feet dropped off and basically cut them right off. This is a one boat at a time kind of ramp...and now to make matters worse there's about 40 other bassboats flying across the lake to the landing and these people looked scared to death, I felt so bad for the two kids who looked worried sick....so suddenly I feel courageous and occasionally my filter between my brain and my mouth doesn't work too well. I think the words I spit out went something like.."Unless one of your houses is on fire I think maybe you guys owe this family an apology and maybe even a little help" ... both of them just ignored me, so I told the family to go ahead and unload and that I would make sure that everyone waited their turn and also told them that not all fishermen were rude and inconsiderate....

[doc]

Me and Lowrider fished a tourney on a lake this year, that just so happend to have another tourney going at the same time. Once we got to our spot and started fishing down the bank we had 2 asshats from the other club literally pull 10 feet in front of our boat and start fishing. We did speak up and ask if they were really gonna cut us off like that. The fellow on the trolling motor said "well I guess so".

I was putting down my rod and pulling up the tm to jump them back when his partner in the back apparently told him how rude that was, and they scurried on outta our way. But they were gonna muscle us outta our spot if we would have let em.

[66KingFisher]

Its no wonder that the only areas i'll even concider fishing are so remote that you'll be lucky to see another person or boat....I guess i've grown sick of stupid inconciderate people in my old age and I'd just as soon avoid 99.9% of the human race.....isn't that terrible?

[WTL]

There are ways to get away from them, but it makes it more difficult on you. Learn the water you can't run fast on, go way up creeks and shoaled rivers, fish at night, in the rain (no lightning), in the cold if you want to. You let them have saturday and sunday afternoons in spring and summer.

Of course, that doens't always work, but it is some help.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

I know a ton of people who have drivers licenses and still drive like idiots. I don't think it would help that much with the boating.

BB

BB, you are wise beyond your young age, my dear boy! I have never seen where boating courses, licenses or any other legislated requirement is the solution for anything! Folks have to learn courstesy the hard way sometimes. Sometimes you can approach these folks on the shore and calmly inform them of the dangerous act and why they should be aware of their actions. Sometimes you simply need to call the local law enforcement authorities and report the hull number and violation. As tempting as it would be to set the hook on somebody's ear, that really doesn't solve the problem (in fact it could actually backfire on you if you're not careful)

[Fishing Fanatic]

Originally Posted by WTL

There are ways to get away from them, but it makes it more difficult on you. Learn the water you can't run fast on, go way up creeks and shoaled rivers.......

This is why I choose to fish from a kayak - you can't imagine how peaceful and enjoyable it is. Most days I never see another person except my fishing partner.

[Fishnngolfn]

Originally Posted by Fishing Fanatic

This is why I choose to fish from a kayak - you can't imagine how peaceful and enjoyable it is. Most days I never see another person except my fishing partner.

That's why I love my little pontoon boat too. I am saving up for a SOT kayak too. There is literally half the shore line of Cooter's Pond in Prattville that the big boats will not go anywhere near because of all the underwater stumps and trees. It is the entire western shore and all the way up to the dock near the golf course. That is where I will be fishing. The local tackle shop owner said that he has only seen 2 jon boats over in that area in the 6 years he has been on the water and both boats came back with at least 6 LM each.